[AOD] wrote:If tribal women have been getting along fine without such clumsy and impractical undergarments for tens of thousands of years, what on earth could be the reason for the existence of the brassiere other than the patriarchial standards set by so-called 'civilised' society?
A couple of points:
1) Modern diets, particularly in the Western world, include far more protein than the diets of tribal peoples. This change has two results directly related to breast size:
A) Higher body weights. Even before Western eating habits went out of control, we had higher body weights than hunter-gatherers or even peasant agriculturalists.
B) Earlier puberties. High-protein diets kickstart puberty, although it takes a couple of generations for this effect to show up. The earlier a girl starts puberty, the more time her breasts have to grow before maturation and pregnancy disrupt growth cycles.
To put it into terms the average geek would be familiar with, Japanese women have smaller breasts than American women (On average) because the Japanese diet has smaller portions and less protein than the American diet. And bigger breasts need more support.
2) When they have to run around or carry a lot of stuff, women in tribal societies will often bind their breasts. But since that's uncomfortable, and a spare piece of cloth isn't always at hand, they don't do it often.
